China, Iran, and other repressive foreign governments are targeting their critics in the United States and recruiting “pawns” to help facilitate their schemes, according to U.S. intelligence agencies.
In a new bulletin titled “Don’t Be a Pawn of Repressive Foreign Governments,” the National Counterintelligence and Security Center (NCSC) and the FBI warn individuals and organizations in the U.S. with access to personal data to be wary of “improper” efforts to obtain that information or other forms of support for “malicious foreign operations.”
“Foreign intelligence entities (FIEs) and elements working on behalf of repressive regimes have sought to use U.S.-based persons to facilitate their efforts to threaten or harm perceived critics and opponents in the United States,” notes the bulletin, which the NCSC shared via Twitter on March 28. “For instance, FIEs from the People’s Republic of China, the Islamic Republic of Iran, and other nations have used U.S.-based persons to conduct surveillance against and collect personal information on individuals their regimes were targeting in the United States.”…